Geer, Derek, DEP

Bio & Incident Details

Age: 40
Tour: 15 years
Badge # Not available
Military veteran
Cause: Gunfire
Incident Date: Monday, February 8, 2016
Weapon: Handgun
Suspect: In custody


Deputy Sheriff Derek Geer succumbed to gunshot wounds sustained the previous day while attempting to question a juvenile in the area of 30 Road and E Road, in Grand Junction, at approximately 11:15 am.

He and other deputies were investigating reports of an armed subject in the area and spotted the juvenile, who matched the description of the subject. As Deputy Geer spoke to the juvenile, the boy asked him if he was being detained. When Deputy Geer told him that he was being detained the boy pulled away from him and a struggle ensued.

Deputy Geer deployed a taser, however, the subject was able to pull out a handgun and open fire. Deputy Geer was struck multiple times, including in the face. He was able to radio for assistance but had become unresponsive by the time another deputy arrived at his location. He was transported to St. Mary's Hospital where he remained on life support so his organs could be donated.

The juvenile was arrested a short time later after being found hiding in the backyard of a nearby home.

Deputy Geer was a U.S. Navy veteran and had served with the Mesa County Sheriff's Office for 15 years. He is survived by his wife and two children.

Denver Post


Gunned down Mesa County deputy to be taken off life support.

A Grand Junction police officer guards a roadblock south of a brown house, right, at 494 Ol' Sun Drive after officers arrested a suspect at the house following the shooting of a Mesa County sheriff's deputy at E Road on Monday. ( Gretel Daugherty, Grand Junction Daily Sentinel )

During 15 years wearing the badge of a Mesa County sheriff's deputy, Derek Geer lived and worked by the book, helped many and saved at least one life.

On Monday morning, the 40-year-old Navy veteran questioned a 17-year-old boy amid reports of an armed suspect, then tried to stop him with a stun gun when he ran. Officers say the boy pulled a handgun, fired several times and fled, leaving Geer mortally wounded.

"Every situation you handle is going to be different. You try to use the most minimal force necessary to handle the situation," sheriff's Sgt. Henry Stoffel said Tuesday. "Obviously, this situation escalated quickly, and the suspect presented deadly force before Deputy Geer was able to react."

Geer, a married father of two children, lay in St. Mary's Regional Medical Center on Tuesday, and Sheriff Matt Lewis said he will be taken off life support within 48 hours. His organs will be donated.

"Our hearts are broken, as we begin the process of grieving the tremendous loss of Derek, our husband, father, son and friend," his wife, Kate, said.

"The love and support that has been poured out to our family over the last 24 hours is humbling; the gratitude for Derek's sacrifice and the compassion from this community is a reminder of the good in this world."

Geer's family told Lewis that one of the accomplishments the deputy was most proud of was saving a young woman's life, giving her CPR after she had a heart attack. His actions that day in 2012 earned him a life-saving medal from the sheriff's office.

In death, the organ donor may well save other lives, and make "one more final act of service. Just like he lived his life in service of a community, this is one more step in providing that service," Lewis said.

A single organ donor can save up to eight lives when the organs are harvested, providing kidneys, liver, heart, lungs, pancreas and small intestine for transplant, said Andrea Smith, spokeswoman for the Donor Alliance, a nonprofit that facilitates organ and tissue donations.

Geer was shot as he and other officers responded shortly after 11 a.m. Monday to reports of an armed person in the 500 block of Fruitvale Court in Grand Junction, according to the sheriff's office.

Geer came across a suspect on foot near E Road and 30½ Road, authorities said. The two spoke briefly, and the boy asked Geer if he was going to be detained. Geer said yes.

But the teen bolted, and Geer fired his stun gun, striking the boy but not incapacitating him.

"The suspect then fired several rounds at Deputy Geer, striking him multiple times," according to the sheriff's office.

A teenager was arrested after a brief manhunt. His name has been withheld.

There are several reasons that the probes from a stun gun can fail to incapacitate someone, Stoffel said. Thick or loose clothing, for example, can prevent the probe from making contact, and both probes must make contact.

Geer was bleeding heavily from his face and had a pulse so weak a first responder could not feel it following the shooting, dispatch recordings show.

"I have an officer down," a man said over his police radio. "I have a wound to his face bleeding heavily."

"I need an ambulance!" the man then called, according to dispatch recordings archived on Broadcastify.com.

An investigation into the shooting has been turned over to the 21st Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team.

Lewis said investigators have recovered a handgun used in the shooting. The shooter was reported to have been wearing a bandana over his face.

Dan Rubinstein, the county's district attorney, said that because the case is being investigated by a team of local and state law enforcement departments, he cannot comment. He also declined to speculate about what charges the teen accused of shooting Geer might face.

"We are trying to come to terms with this tragedy," Lewis said. "We will have answers soon enough."